This comprehensive introductory text with readings offers a historical overview of all major subdivisions of Western Philosophy perspectives--including both the analytic and Continental traditions--as well as Eastern philosophy, postcolonial philosophy, and feminist philosophy. Written in an engaging and captivating style, it makes philosophy accessible without oversimplifying the material, and shows that philosophy's powerful ideas affect the lives of real people.
A fantastic summarized introduction to philosophical texts. While this textbook doesn't go into as much depth as "The Great Conversation" it still serves as a solid bare-bones introduction to many of the most popular philosophical leaders and movements.
The Power of Ideas was a well written textbook with a lot of philosophical examples, public figures and unfamiliar vocabulary. The book makes you feel more studious if anything; while reading through the book for my philosophy course there was many highlighted boxes with famous philosophers and their ideas which helped me understand what I was reading a little better. The book guides you through philosophy in a chronological order and points out the most significant points. With a very accessible and easy index section the book is excellent to use for studying or researching.
Overall, I did like the book because it helped me understand many famous philosophers, it helped me understand theories formed around the world, and also helped me write a good research paper. I recommend this book to anyone interested in someday pursuing a career in philosophy, or someone who needs to do a little research on philosophy in the past and present, because this textbook has a lot of information to offer.
Okay, so I didn't really read the whole thing....just the parts required for class. Overall I figured out I'm probably not that philisophical of guy...myabe I just got tired of hearing God isn't real.
Informative but ordinary and also a bit repetitive. These authors would probably do a great job writing a more focused book regarding specific philosophers and specific big ideas rather than such a broad look at all of the philosophers for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Read for class. Fine as far as textbooks go, but it's written in a weird sometimes-casual-sometimes-formal tone with randomly inserted personal anecdotes from the authors' lives, something which I personally found a little disconcerting.